


The Watering Can

by havetaoque



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Magic, Pining, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Power Dynamics, Size Difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 06:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13781481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havetaoque/pseuds/havetaoque
Summary: Loki is bound by a magical curse and finds himself entirely at the mercy of Tony Stark. And a ...watering can?Chinese translation byChuh:here.





	The Watering Can

Tony would have missed it if not for DUM-E.

“What’s that you got for me?” he asked, taking the watering can-looking thing from DUM-E’s claw. DUM-E swiveled around and gestured at a spot on the floor, opening his claw dramatically.

“Huh. It just appeared there? Strange. No, not Doctor – the adjective. Oh, don’t pout. I’ll invite him back here one of these days. Go help U with the prototypes. That’s a good boy.”

DUM-E rolled away and Tony turned back to the bench with the watering can. He cleared off a little space for it. It was caked with dirt and rusting around the bottom.

Tony picked it up again, turning it over in his hands. He could tell it once had a lid, but it seemed to have been soldered shut. “Okay, what have we got here?” He rubbed at it with his sleeve. Some of the dirt crumbled away, revealing cheap aluminum of the dollar store variety. Probably a leftover Easter decoration. Maybe he would stick some flowers in it and surprise Vision. Vision liked flowers a lot for some reason. (Some reason being that JARVIS had liked flowers (because Jarvis had too).)

Tony reached for a metal file to scrape off the rust when the watering can shook and bounced off his lap. It spat out a puff of green smoke and Tony had barely gotten out an “Oh my fucking—” before a mist-wreathed miniature Loki pushed his way out of the spout and glared at Tony with crossed arms and an even crosser look.

“You,” Loki said, accusing.

“Security breach,” Tony said. DUM-E rolled over with the fire extinguisher, U creeping behind him with the camera set on Record.

Loki’s mist grew darker. “If you douse me with that, metal creature, I will incinerate you.”

DUM-E turned to look at Tony.

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, go ahead. There’s smoke. And where there is smoke…”

He let Loki cough and wipe away the foam for a few minutes before bending down to pick up the watering can.

“Are you actually stuck in the watering can?” Tony asked, trying to stay serious.

Loki huffed and crossed his arms. “Just get on with it.”

“With what? Wait, seriously? The whole genie in a lamp three wishes thing is real?”

“So it would seem.”

Tony hummed thoughtfully. There had to be more to it than just the wishes. This was Loki. Who knew how he would interpret the wishes and carry them out? “How did you get stuck in there?” he asked instead.

“I ran into an old friend of mine. He wasn’t particularly happy to see me alive.”

“Imagine that,” Tony said. “So how do these wishes work? What’s in it for you?”

“Nothing, if you can believe it. You ask, I grant. It’s very simple.”

“What happens when I use up my wishes? Are you free to leave your watering can?”

“I don’t know,” Loki said. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Tony set the watering can on the workbench and watched the mist around Loki rise and fall as he breathed.

Loki clenched his fists and asked, without making eye contact, “May I go back inside? I do not enjoy being stared at as if I am a caged animal.”

“Uh, go ahead. Why do you need permission?”

“You summoned me,” Loki replied bitterly.

Tony decided it was best not to keep asking questions and watched as Loki squeezed back down the spout to, Tony supposed, sit inside the can.

There was a time when he’d have taken the wishes without question or have enjoyed ordering Loki around. The Earth was safe so long as Loki was stuck in the watering can. Tony could put it in a vault and forget about it.

He’d do none of those things though. Loki’s newly-diminished existence and magical servitude sounded far too much like slavery to Tony. And after having spoken at length with Thor after Loki’s ‘death,’ Tony thought he understood the chaotic god a bit better. Loki was someone who needed his space and needed to make his own decisions. Tony wouldn’t take advantage of that.

 

A few days later, a faint tapping came from the watering can. When nothing else happened, Tony cautiously reached out and rubbed the metal with his thumb. Loki’s head popped up from the spout. He looked better rested, Tony thought.

“Do you have any food?” Loki asked softly, staring at a spot just to the left of Tony’s shoulder.

Tony’s eyes widened. Shit. There was a reason he didn’t keep plants. It honestly hadn’t occurred to him that Loki would need to eat and sleep and… um. He eyed the watering can. Maybe it had a toilet…somewhere.

Loki glared at him, as though he knew what was running through his mind.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Oh, I get a selection?”

Tony rolled his eyes and picked up the watering can.

 

He set a bowl of soup in front of Loki and handed him a spoon. Loki took it with both hands, held it like a shovel, and flung a wet noodle at Tony’s face.

“In case you didn’t realize, your food is far too large for me!”

“I’d say _you’re_ too small for it,” Tony retorted, wiping his face with his sleeve.

Loki put the spoon down into the soup again, threatening him with a carrot slice.

“Okay, okay, I’ll get you something else.”

Tony found a set of little glass prep bowls and filled the smallest one with a tablespoon of soup. “I don’t have any little spoons, so this will have to do for now.”

“It is acceptable,” Loki said quietly. He took the bowl in both hands and sipped at the broth. Tony took a seat at the table and ate the rest of the soup. No point in wasting it.

The next morning, Tony summoned Loki and presented him with a tiny set of cutlery and dishes. The utensils were fashioned from hammered wire and the dishes were blown glass. Loki looked at them in silence before picking up the wine glass and twirling the stem between his fingers.

“You have made these for me?”

“Well, yeah.” Tony bit his lip, suddenly unsure of himself.

Loki said, “Thank you, Stark,” and Tony relaxed.

They had bacon and pancakes for breakfast.

 

Tony began carrying Loki’s watering can around with him. He didn’t want to leave him somewhere, forget about him, and have the guy starve to death. And maybe he liked his company a bit. Maybe.

They spent a lot of time together in the workshop. At first, Tony had been wary of allowing Loki to see what he was working on, but something told him that this was a very different Loki from the one who had invaded Earth. This Loki was nice to be around. He made jokes and smiled. Tony found himself smiling more too.

“Is there any way you could magic this?” Tony asked him, holding up a bit of tech that had been getting the better of him for the last twenty minutes.

Loki peered at it thoughtfully. “I could, but I can use my _seidr_ only for granting wishes. Would you waste a wish on something you’re perfectly capable of solving yourself with enough time?”

Tony grinned. “Was that a compliment, Loki?”

“You may take it as you will.”

But Tony caught the blush creeping up Loki’s neck.

 

They went to the park, incognito, and spent a sunny afternoon under the trees, drinking tea from a thermos. Loki had his in a new glass teacup, which he was more thrilled about than he let on.

They were left in peace. No one bothered guys who talked to watering cans.

Tony and Loki laid on the grass. Tony set the watering can on its side so Loki’s green mist-trail could reach the ground more easily. Loki found an acorn on the ground and carved a serpent into it with the little diamond blade he and Tony had made together in the workshop. Loki talked about his travels in the universe and reassured Tony that not all of space was dark and full of Chitauri war ships.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the other stuff out there,” Tony admitted. “Alfheim sounds nice.”

“You’d fit in well there, I think,” Loki said. “Some of the festivals are truly a sight.”

Tony liked watching Loki talk about Alfheim. His whole body lit up when he described the lanterns in the forests, the clothing, the food.

 

But a week later, the comfortable rapport between them began to crack. Loki had been on edge for the past few days and refused to speak to Tony. Tony had given up trying to get answers out of the god, but he knew something was the matter.

At dinner, it all came out.

Loki took a sip of wine, rolling it around on his tongue. He swallowed and asked, “What _do_ you wish for, Stark?”

Tony, unaware of the bucket of emotions waiting to fall on his head, shrugged. “I wish for a lot of things. I wish my friends didn’t leave me sometimes. Then sometimes I wish I’d never known them. Doesn’t matter now though. Why?”

“Why? Have you forgotten my purpose? To serve you and grant you your wishes?” He flung down his spoon. “You have been kind to me, but you are no fool. You think you will receive a better outcome –”

Tony held his hands up. (They were eating soup again.) “Whoa, whoa, hold up there! What’s going on, Loki?”

Loki clenched is jaw as he tried to rein in his temper. “You have not used your wishes yet,” he said at last.

Oh. Actually, Tony had forgotten all about the wishes. He hadn’t intended on using them at all. He just wasn’t going to do that to Loki. He’d made up his mind the moment Loki had asked for permission to go back into the watering can.

And yeah, there was the practical reason for not asking Loki to grant wishes. Say he wished for Rogers to be his friend again: it just wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be real. And maybe Loki would take “be his friend again” to last for a day, and then Rogers would break the spell and leave.  

So Loki had been anticipating a command the entire time Tony had thought they were becoming friends. Now that he reflected on it, he realized that no matter how good his intentions were, he still held too much power over Loki. Well, that would be fixed soon. In two days, to be exact. Tony had scheduled an appointment at 177 A Bleecker Street after their outing to the park. (He would have done it sooner, but well, it was Loki. He had to observe and gauge his murder levels a bit first.)

Loki poked him in the arm. “If you think that by endearing yourself to me you stand to gain—”

Tony started at his words. “Did you just admit that you like me?”

“No…”

“Yeah, no, I think you did. And you know what else? I like you too. For you. Just for you. Not for your wish-granting capabilities.”

Loki sighed. “Stark. Please.”

“Do you like me just for my tech and my money?” Tony asked quickly.

Loki made a face. “Of course not! I don’t care for those things. I – I care that you made me a spoon so that I don’t have to... I mean, I…”

“I’m going to get you out of that damn watering can, Loki.”

 

Strange wasn’t too thrilled when Tony showed up to his appointment with Loki’s watering can in his arms.

“Are you going to try to stab me again?” Strange asked dryly.

“Again?” Tony muttered.

“No,” Loki said, crossing his arms. “But do not push your luck or I may do something much worse.”

Strange snorted. “I know you can’t do magic like that. Save the threats for another time, watering can.”

“Watering can?! When I’m out of this thing—”

Tony flicked him. “ _He’s_ the one who’s going to get you out. I’d shut my mouth if I were you.” He turned back to Strange. “You’ll still help us?”

Strange sighed dramatically and his cape sighed along with him. “Follow me.”

 

The spell, it turned out, was not very complicated. Which was good on one hand, but Tony could tell that Loki felt humiliated at his own powerlessness during the proceedings. He hustled them out of there once Loki had climbed out of the watering can. Who kept knives in their sleeves like that?

Loki disappeared for a while when they got back to the tower, but Tony knew he wasn’t far off. He found him in the kitchen after midnight, staring at the tiny dishes and utensils Tony had made.

“Guess you don’t need those anymore,” Tony said. He crossed his arms stiffly over his chest.

Loki looked up at him. His eyes seemed much greener at this size. Damn, Tony should have made him a little goblet cut from green sapphire. He had a bag of raw of stones in the workshop somewhere, left over from an old project. There was one that would have been the perfect size.

“I suppose not,” Loki said softly. “I’m rather too large for them now.” He stood from the table and crossed the room in four long strides.

Tony looked at the tile floor.

“I believe, however,” Loki said, inches from Tony, “that I am just the right size for you.”

Tony lifted his gaze to see Loki regarding him carefully, eyes hopeful.

“Can I kiss you?” Tony blurted out.

Loki smiled and leaned forward to cup Tony’s jaw.

“If that is what you wish.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
